Petition to Keep Salons Closed Nets Nearly 10,000 Signatures

Salons are high risk for COVID-19 transmission. The governor’s office says it is working to decrease the risk as businesses reopen.

Patrons reunite at the Thirsty Duck Saloon in Oregon City. (Alex Wittwer)
By Rachel Monahan

More than 9,800 people have signed a petition calling for salons to remain closed during the state's first phase of reopening.

The petition was organized by an advocacy group formed to represent small businesses, called the Oregon Hands On Collective.

"Because of the nature of our industries, we cannot socially distance and we present an increased risk of transmission in Phase 1," said OHOC representative Lisa Boehm in a statement. "Our hope is that, by including us in Phase 3, the government will have time to accomplish the following: providing our industries with accessible and affordable viral testing, PUA/UI criteria exemptions, and other expanded benefits programs to help us jump-start our businesses in the face of enormous financial and legal burdens."

The governor's office has said it is opening salons with appropriate efforts to lessen the risks of contracting COVID-19, including requiring salon workers to wear masks.

Salons are one place COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred across the U.S., and the newly formed group is concerned about the financial health of their businesses as well as their own physical health.

"We will not be able to make a profit when we have to cut our business at least in half, and premature reopening is condemning us to work to lose money and expose ourselves and by extension our loved ones at home to get sick," the petition on change.org states. "This is unconscionable."

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